They accuse a far-right leader and 10 other radicals of conspiring for an uprising for the assault on the Capitol

Stewart Rhodes, founder of the far-right militia Oath Keepers, has been charged and arrested for his group's role in organizing the violent attack on Capitol Hill on January 6, 2021, the Justice Department reported Thursday.

Rhodes is the highest-ranking member of an extremist group arrested in the deadly siege of Congress.

It is also the first time the Justice Department has filed a seditious conspiracy charge in connection with the attack on Capitol Hill.

The 56-year-old far-right leader has been indicted along with more than a dozen Oath Keepers members and associates, who authorities say came to Washington DC with the intent of stopping the president's victory certification, Joe Biden.

[The three harshest accusations of Biden to Trump on the anniversary of the assault on the Capitol]

In this file photo from Sunday, June 25, 2017, Stewart Rhodes, founder of the citizen militia group known as the Oath Keepers, speaks during a rally outside the White House in Washington. Susan Walsh / AP

Although Rhodes did not enter the Capitol building on Jan. 6, he is accused of helping spark the violence that disrupted the certification of the vote. 

Days before the assault, the leader had made a call on the group's website for

for a "security mission" to "stand firm in support of the president's fight." Trump."

The Oath Keepers case is the largest conspiracy case federal authorities have brought so far since the assault, when thousands of pro-Trump protesters crashed through police barriers and smashed windows, injuring dozens of officers and driving lawmakers out. in a hurry.